Chautauqua Dreary

7:26

8:40

Not much of a morning sky, gray on gray, light rain and 45º.  I am beginning to understand the sign we saw in Greece back in the 1970's that read 'Futbol is the opium of the people, not religion' as Marx suggested. In order to push Trump's daily absurdities out of my mind, I listen to sports podcasts and there are lots of them.  This morning it was ESPN Daily which discussed the demise of the Cleveland Browns.  The Ringer also has the NBA and NFL podcasts, both quite good and of course, my go-to, as well as The Bill Simmons Show.  If you are going crazy from listening to the news, join the modern opium of the people, sports podcasts and you will be much happier (unless you are a Browns fan). It's 8:40 and I just returned from a paddle in the light rain made worthwhile because I was able to photograph the first two loons of the fall, migrating South no doubt.

Kayak Morning

Loons Are Back

A Couple 

Yesterday turned out to be a surprisingly nice day,  as the weather gods played tricks on the forecasters by bringing us a pleasant afternoon, the predicted rain and clouds never materialized.  The day began with clouds and drizzle on a paddle.  By 9:30, however, I was in a yin yoga class, the conscious self disappearing during the asanas.  After class, I stopped at Ryder's Cup and sat down and talked with local Dave and Joyce, the owner and her parents on a slow morning.  The four of us are in our 70's, the parents in their 80's, so there was lots of talk about the good old days. Joyce's father always wears a Maga hat so we don't talk about politics.

Sunday Walk In CI

When I returned home, Evie had been busy, rearranging and organizing a closet and was dressed and ready to head to the YMCA for a workout, then a stop to return things to both Aldi's and TJ Maxx.  I didn't expect her home until late afternoon and I was right.  Before leaving, she made me quesadillas and I filled a couple more potholes with the leftover millings from last week.  I watched the final episode of Season Four of Line Of Duty, always good and am ready to start Season Five.  I then read and finished The Dutch House, the last half disappointing unfortunately as I tired of the characters.  I fell asleep briefly but woke ready to do something.  Because the sun came out briefly, I powered up the mower and cut the neighbor's yard, mostly because their leaves were blowing on to our virgin lawn.  So now we have two mostly leaf free yards for a couple of days.  The only task left for me is to clean the gutters.

Chautauqua Institution In The Late Fall

Evie was home by 3:00, just as I was finishing the mulching.  We both were ready to relax and read, listen to the news or watch TV.  We were tempted to go out for dinner until Linda texted to see if we wanted to meet them Tuesday at Steener's Irish Pub.  So we stayed home and Evie took the naan from Aldi's and made pizza out of them, adding sauce and toppings and made a salad with roasted cauliflower.  It was good enough for an easy weeknight meal.  We watched two political shows, Axios from HBO and The Circus, from Showtime, both fun and worth watching because both analyze the past week's big stories.  We ended the night with Succession and it was good to know that critics agree with us, that the show is filled with deplorables but that's one of the reasons for its popularity.  Who would have thunk?